Die Nadel im Heuhaufen
Die Nadel im Heuhaufen Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Material
- 1 pitchfork card (Heugabelkarte)
- 62 hay cards (Heukarten)
- 1 needle card (Nadelkarte)
- 2 magnet cards (Magnetkarten)
- 2 dice (Würfel)
- 15 animal cards: 3 each of hedgehog (Igel), chicken (Huhn), mouse (Maus), squirrel (Eichhörnchen) and hare (Hase)
- 15 food cards: 3 each of apple (Apfel), grains (Körner), cheese (Käse), acorn (Eichel) and carrot (Möhre)
Note: apart from the pitchfork card, all cards have the same back.
What Is It About?
Search the ever-growing haystack for the lost needle, the animals and their favourite food. The animals score points, and you can lure them in with food. When the needle is found, the game is over. The player with the most points then wins.
Setup
Just a few small preparations:
- Place the pitchfork card together with the two dice on the table. Tip: when the pitchfork card is not needed, you can also tuck it into the edge of the closed game box. Then it is always at hand.
- Shuffle all other cards thoroughly and place them face down as a draw pile.
- Draw 15 cards from the pile. Do not look at them! Form 5 piles of 3 cards each and lay them out face down in the middle of the table, fanned out and a little apart from each other.
Start of the Game
Whoever last saw a hamster starts. Then you play clockwise. On your turn, roll both dice. Choose one of the two dice and carry out the corresponding action.
If You Choose the Yellow Die
Draw 4, 5 or 6 cards from the draw pile. Look at them, but make sure the others cannot see them as far as possible. Lay the cards face down, slightly fanned out, on your outstretched palm. Hold your hand over the cards already lying on the table and toss them upward. The cards fly through the air a little and then land scattered over the haystack.
When tossing the cards, observe the following:
- If it is easier for you, you may also use both palms held side by side.
- You may not simply turn your palm(s) over. The cards must first fly upward before they land on the haystack.
- If fewer cards remain on the draw pile than the die shows, take all the remaining cards for tossing.
- If any cards fall off the table while tossing, shuffle them back into the draw pile.
If You Choose the White Die
Your die result shows how many times you may now shovel hay: 1, 2 or 3 times. For one shovel, take the pitchfork card and use it to lift hay cards that are already lying on the table into the air, trying to turn them over.
Some rules also apply to shoveling:
- For each shovel, you may place the pitchfork card at any spot on the haystack.
- However, you may not move the cards already lying out too much while shoveling.
- Each shovel should be done in one continuous motion.
- Of course you may also try to turn over several hay cards at once with a single shovel.
Note: if the new cards lie too flat on the table so that you cannot get the pitchfork card underneath them, bend the whole card stack slightly in one direction and then in the other before the game begins.
What Do You Find on the Haystack After Your Action?
Animals. Do you see one or more animals lying fully or partly face up in the haystack? Great! You may take the animal card(s) immediately and lay them face up in front of you.
Food. Do you see food lying fully or partly face up? Perfect! You lure an animal with its favourite food away from someone else. Take a matching animal card from a player of your choice and lay it face up in front of you. Put the food card out of the game, back into the game box.
If no one yet has the matching animal lying in front of them, you are unlucky: you get no animal card, and you put the food card out of the game unused. This also applies if currently only you have the matching animal in front of you.
Magnet. If another player already has the needle card lying face up in front of them, you may take it away from them and keep it for yourself. The magnet card then goes out of the game. If no one has the needle card in front of them, the magnet card goes out of the game unused.
Needle. Hooray! Harry Hamster has found the needle! You may lay the card face up in front of you immediately. After everyone else has had one more turn, the game is over.
Note: if the needle is found very early, the game is over quickly. In that case, you are best off playing again straight away.
If the Draw Pile Runs Out
Special case at the end: if the draw pile is used up but the needle has not yet been found, set the dice aside. From now on, each player in turn may shovel hay once, until someone has found the needle card and all the others have had one more turn. Animals and food are still collected as before in the meantime.
End of the Game
When someone has found the needle card, all the others have one more turn. Then the game ends and you add up your points:
- Each animal card lying in front of you is worth 1 point.
- The needle card is worth 3 points.
The player with the most points wins. In case of a tie, you share the victory.
Variant for Professional Haystack Searchers with a Good Memory
Why not try the game like this: if you find a food card that you cannot use right away, do not take it out of the game. Instead, turn it over where you found it. If you remember well where which food is hidden, you may be able to reveal it at the right moment with the pitchfork and so lure an animal to you. Only then do you place the food card on the discard pile.